'b3\.06> 

CHlt _ _ 

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Church  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  the 

<T 

Interests  of  Labor 


REPORT 

OF 


INVESTIGATION  OF  CONDITIONS 
IN 

WESTMORELAND  COUNTY,  PA. 


OCTOBER,  1911. 


C.  A.  I.  L. 

Diocesan  House,  416  1_a  eav'et  te  Street 
NEW  VORK,  N .  V. 


OFFICERS. 

RT.  REV.  DAVID  HUMMEL  GREER,  D.D.,  L.L.D. 

President. 

RT.  REV.  CHAS.  S.  BURCH.  D.D. 

First  Vice-President. 

HARRIETTE  A.  KEYSER, 

Second  Vice-President. 

MARGARET  SCHUYLER  LAWRANCE, 

Corresponding  Secretary. 

LEONORA  STOEPPLER, 

Recording  Secretary. 

H.  B.  LIVINGSTON,  Treasurer. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

The  Officers,  Chairmen  Standing  Committees,  and 
REV.  JOSEPH  REYNOLDS,  Vermont. 

REV.  J.  P.  PETERS.  Ph.D.,  New  York. 

REV.  F.  W.  TOMPKINS,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

PROF.  J.  H.  DILLARD,  New  Orleans. 

REV.  HENRY  M.  BARBOUR,  New  York. 

MISS  MARY  LENTE,  New  York. 

WALTER  D.  DAVIDGE. 


MARY  LENTE, 

Chairman  Ways  and  Means  Committee. 
GEORGE  M.  REED, 

Chairman  Organized  Labor  Committee. 
ANNA  S.  DANIEL,  M.  D., 

Chairman  Tenement  House  Committee. 
LILY  F.  FOSTER, 

Chairman  Legislative  Committee. 
HARRIETTE  A.  KEYSER, 

Chairman  Church  and  Stage  Committee. 
JOSIAH  C.  PUMPELLY, 

Chairman  Congestion  Committee. 
HARRIETTE  A.  KEYSER, 

Chairman  Press  Committee. 


1 


/ 


of  August,  1911,  the  call  came  to  the  Church 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  the  Interests  of  Labor 
through  its  sister  society  in  the  Church,  the  Companions 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  to  go  to  the  help  of  the  people  in  the 
mining  towns  in  Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa.,  where  a  long 
strike  of  sixteen  months  had  just  ended,  leaving  many  in 
sore  distress.  In  answer  to  this  appeal  three  members  of 
C.  A.  I.  L,  who  were  also  members  of  the  Society  of  the 
Companiohs  of  the  Holy  Cross,  went  to  this  district  to  in¬ 
vestigate  and  strive  to  ameliorate  conditions  there. 

Letters  of  introduction  to  clergymen,  labor  leaders  and 
prominent  citizens  made  it  possible  to  study  the  situation 
from  many  standpoints,  and  under  the  guidance  of  some 
who  had  worked  in  this  district  during  the  strike,  we  came 
into  actual  contact  with  those  who  had  suffered  from  the 
late  industrial  conflict,  and  saw  for  ourselves  the  condi¬ 
tions  which  it  had  produced.  We  heard  also  the  testimony 
of  others  not  connected  with  the  mining  industry  in  any 
way,  who,  living  in  the  mining  towns  or  their  vicinity, 
were  well  informed  as  to  the  history  of  those  sixteen 
months,  and  told  us  of  many  incidents  they  had  personally 
witnessed. 

The  greatest  courtesy  was  shown  by  Mr.  Francis  Feehan, 
the  wise  and  able  president  of  the  Pittsburg  District  No.  5, 
United  Mine  Workers,  and  by  other  members  of  that 
Union.  We  were  especially  indebted  to  Mr.  Joseph  Little- 
wood,  of  the  Greensburgh  Local,  who  spared  no  trouble  to 
render  our  stay  in  that  town  pleasant  and  comfortable. 

Wishing  to  obtain  the  views  of  the  employers  as  well  as 
the  employees  as  to  the  questions  at  issue  between  them, 
application  was  also  made  to  the  three  coal  companies 
which  have  their  headquarters  in  Pittsburg.  A  very  courte¬ 
ous  reply  was  received  from  the  President  of  one  of  these 
companies,  appointing  a  time  for  the  suggested  interview, 
but  unfortunately,  the  time  set  was  already  booked  for 


ft  ! 


3 


an  important  engagement,  and  further  efforts,  on  our  part 
to  obtain  interviews  or  written  information  were  unsuc¬ 
cessful.  This  is  to  be  regretted,  but  fortunately  we  were 
able  to  reinforce  our  observations  by  the  article  in  the 
“Survey”  of  Dec.  3d,  1910,  written  by  Paul  Kellogg,  and 
another  in  the  “American”  for  July,  1911,  by  Algernon 
Crapsey.  Both  of  these  writers  in  the  course  of  a  more 
extensive  investigation,  saw  both  the  operators  and  their 
employees,  and  in  their  articles  give  the  opinions  of 
each  side. 

Much  valuable  information  was  also  obtained  from  the 
Summary  Report  of  the  Immigration  Commission  on  “Im¬ 
migrants  in  Manufactuiling  and  Mining,”  and  the  Report 
of  the  Hearings  held  before  the  Committee  on  Rules, 
House  of  Representatives,  on  the  resolution  authorizing 
the  Committee  on  Labor  to  investigate  conditions  in  the 
Westmoreland  Coal  Fields  of  Pennsylvania.  From  these 
various  sources,  supplemented  by  personal  observation, 
the  following  brief  outline  of  a  history  which  might  fill 
volumes  is  compiled  : 

The  strike  had  been  the  result  of  long  dissatisfaction  of 
workers  in  the  Westmoreland  coal  field,  which  lies  to  the 
east  of  Pittsburg  as  the  Pittsburg  field  lies  to  the  west. 
The  same  vein  of  coal  extends  through  both  fields,  and 
mining  conditions  are  very  similar:  but  the  conditions  of 
labor  in  the  two  fields  are  vastly  different.  The  Pittsburg 
field  is  organized,  the  men  have  voice  in  their  contracts, 
they  w^ork  only  eight  hours  a  day,  they  are  paid  at  a  regu¬ 
lar  rate  for  “dead  work,”  i.  e.,  for  removing  slate  and  clay, 
pumping  water,  and  doing  various  other  kinds  of  deficient 
work  connected  with  mining.  Their  wages  are  about 
twenty  per  cent,  higher  than  those  of  the  men  in  the  West¬ 
moreland  field  who  work  ten  hours  a  day  and  are  seldom 
paid  for  “dead  work.”  These  latter  workers  are  paid  by 
the  w~agon  load,  or  ton,  lower  rates  being  paid  for  mine-run 


4 


coal,  and  higher  for  that  which  is  too  large  to  pass  through 
the  screens,  w^hich  vary  in  size  from  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  to  an  inch  and  a  quarter.  The  wagons  also  are  of 
different  sizes,  and  it  is  claimed  have  been  enlarged  with¬ 
out  the  pay  per  wagon  being  increased.  The  men  w  ho  are 
paid  by  the  ton  are  seldom  allowed  to  have  their  own 
check  weighman  on  the  tipple,  and  thus  have  suspicions 
that  they  are  defrauded  of  their  just  dues. 

In  some  mines  the  men  are  required  to  pay  twenty-live 
cents  every  two  weeks  for  sharpening  tools;  and  deductions 
from  wages  are  made  for  doctors’  fees,  whether  or  not 
there  is  illness.  Five  cents  a  day  is  charged  each  miner 
for  the  use  of  the  new  safety  lamps,  which  they  are  not 
allowed  to  buy.  It  is  claimed  by  the  men  that  the  dimmer 
light  given  by  these  lamps  is  injurious  to  their  eyesight 
and  renders  them  more  liable  to  accidents,  although  the 
danger  from  explosion  is  lessened.  They  contend  that  it 
is  unreasonable  to  require  the  use  of  safety  lamps  by  the 
men,  while  the  use  of  electric  cutting  machines  is  unre¬ 
stricted.  In  this  opinion  they  are  supported  by  the  follow¬ 
ing  statement  of  the  chief  inspector  of  coal  mines  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  an  annual  report:  “In  gaseous  mines 
electric  cutting  machines  or  other  electric  motors  should 
never  be  permitted  in  use,  as  otherwise  sooner  or  later 
they  will  be  the  cause  of  a  great  catastrophe.”  This  is 
quoted  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Bulletin  No.  90,  which  goes 
on  to  say:  “It  is  an  entirely  safe  assumption  that  some  of 
the  disastrous  gas  explosions  have  been  due  to  dust  or 
gas  ignited  by  electric  sparks.” 

The  men  are  required  to  buy  their  owui  powder,  which 
is  quite  an  item.  One  man  whom  we  met  figured  it  as 
ranging  from  $1.00  to  $2.50  a  week.  Just  previous  to 
the  strike,  a  new  and  safer  explosive  wras  prescribed  by 
law  to  be  used,  and  the  greater  expense  of  this,  and  the 
fact  that  it  broke  the  coal  into  smaller  pieces  were  largely 
responsible  for  the  strike.  The  operators  acknowledged 
that  the  wages  of  the  men  wrere  reduced  by  the  introduc- 


5 


tion  of  the  new  lamps  and  explosives,  and  one  company 
made  a  slight  advance  in  consequence,  though  not  suffi¬ 
cient  to  make  up  the  actual  loss.  When  one  learns  from 
the  Report  of  the  Commission  on  Immigration  that  the 
average  yearly  wage  of  all  workmen  in  bituminous  mines 
is  only  $443.00  it  is  easy  to  see  how  seriously  these  reduc¬ 
tions  and  deductions  diminished  the  scanty  earnings  of 
these  men.  If  work  were  steady  the  yearly  wage  would 
undoubtedly  be  considerably  higher;  bu,t  there  are  often 
slack  times  when  the  mines  are  closed  down,  while  during 
the  period  when  business  is  good,  men  are  required  to 
work  seven  days  in  the  week,  or  lose  their  positions. 

Meetings  of  the  men  to  discuss  their  grievances  led  to 
their  dismissal  from  the  mines,  and  refusal  of  the  compan¬ 
ies  to  consider  their  protests  led  to  the  general  strike. 
The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  upheld  the  demands 
of  the  men,  and  about  eighteen  thousand  joined  the  union 
and  left  the  mines.  'Some  of  the  companies  would,  it  is 
said,  have  gladly  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  men,  but 
were  not  permitted  to  break  the  ranks  of  the  union  of 
employers,  so  they  simply  closed  down  their  mines,  per¬ 
mitted  their  employees  to  continue  in  the  company  houses, 
and  when  the  strike  ended  took  back  all  the  men.  But 
the  majority  of  the  companies  imported  new  men  to  work 
the  mines,  numbers  of  whom  afterwards  escaped,  and  re¬ 
ported  that  they  had  been  detained  against  their  will  in 
the  stockades  within  the  companies’  grounds.  Affidavits 
to  this  effect  were  presented  at  the  hearing  before  the 
Rules  Committee  already  referred  to.  Claiming  that  the 
local  authorities  did  not  make  adequate  efforts  to  pre¬ 
serve  order,  the  operators  arranged  for  over  four  hundred 
men  to  be  sworn  in  as  deputy  sheriffs  by  the  Sheriff  of 
Westmoreland  County.  These  men  were  put  on  the  pay¬ 
rolls  of  the  companies.  They  not  only  guarded  the  mines 
and  the  new  men,  but  patrolled  the  public  roads,  stopped 
parades  and  ordered  the  American  flag  to  be  furled  when 


6 


carried  by  strikers,  even  at  the  funeral  of  a  man  who  had 
been  a  soldier  in  the  Philippine  war,  this  with  the  approval 
of  one  of  the  mine  owners.  Persons  were  arrested  by 
these  deputy  sheriffs  without  the  formality  of  a  war¬ 
rant,  and  even  a  commitment  to  jail  was  often  not  recorded. 
The  power  vested  in  them  was  the  more  dangerous  when, 
as  was  too  often  the  case,  they  were  men  of  bad  character, 
who  made  the  roads  unsafe  for  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  the  farmers  of  the  locality,  as  well  as  for  the  strikers 
and  their  families.  A  petition  for  their  banishment  from 
the  public  roads  was  signed  by  ninety-nine  residents  in  one 
town.  Many  sad  conflicts  resulted  from  this  state  of 
things,  and  many  were  the  charges  of  brutality  and  injus¬ 
tice  on  both  sides. 

The  Pittsburg  Chamber  of  Commerce  offered  to  arbi¬ 
trate,  but  was  refused  by  the  operators,  though  wel¬ 
comed  by  the  men. 

The  majority  of  the  miners  had  been  living  in  company 
houses,  and  were,  of  course,  evicted,  with  the  women  and 
children  of  their  families.  The  Union  rented  land  from 
those  who  would  allowr  them  to  do  so,  and  put  up  tents, 
and  the  following  winter  erected  shacks  to  shelter  them; 
but  there  was  much  overcrowding,  and  the  suffering  for 
want  of  clothing,  fuel  and  food  which  there  were  no  wages 
to  buy,  was  very  great. 

During  the  sixteen  months,  six  hundred  babies  were 
born.  During  the  same  period  two  hundred  persons  died, 
thirty-one  of  whom  were  adults,  the  balance  being  chil¬ 
dren  of  all  ages. 

Aid  was  distributed  by  the  Union  from  week  to  rweek, 
according  to  its  funds,  the  amounts  ranging  from  75  cents 
to  $2.50  a  week  for  each  man — '2-5  cents  to  $1.00  for  each 
woman,  and  10  to  50  cents  for  each  child — or  an  average 
weekly  allowance  of  $1.50  for  a  man,  60  cents  for  a  woman, 
30  cents  for  each  child. 

Private  individuals  learning  of  the  extreme  poverty  and 


7 


suffering  also  contributed,  some  giving  much  needed  per¬ 
sonal  service  as  well.  Prominent  among  these  was  the 
Rev.  D.  L.  Schultz,  pastor  of  the  Lorenz  Avenue  Baptist 
church,  Pittsburg,  who.  hearing  of  the  need,  investigated 
and  immediately  began  to  work  for  relief,  ministering  to 
both  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  many  thousands  in  the 
strikers’  camps.  The  United  Mine  Workers  appreciated 
his  disinterested  efforts  and  petitioned  the  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society  to  appoint  him  their  Labor  Evangelist; 
which  was  done  in  December,  1910. 

Another  devoted  worker  was  Mrs.  Van  Bittner,  the 
young  wife  of  the  Vice-President  of  the  Pittsburg  District 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers,  who  before  her  marriage, 
and  during  the  strike,  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  camps  of 
the  evicted  families.  Hearing  of  the  suffering  among 
them,  she  proffered  her  services  and  did  unselfish  and 
heroic  work  in  caring  for  the  women  and  children,  nursing 
the  sick,  attending  the  hundreds  of  new-born  babies,  and 
being  at  all  times  ready  to  assist  the  noble  doctor  who 
gave  his  services  in  such  cases.  She  also  distributed  re¬ 
lief  as  the  representative  of  the  United  Mine  Workers. 

In  July,  1911,  the  strike  was  declared  off,  leaving  its 
terrible  record  of  violence,  privation  and  death,  financial 
loss  to  the  operators,  and  on  both  sides  loss  of  good  will. 
Many  of  the  old  men  were  refused  work,  but  many  were 
taken  back,  these  and  the  new  men  all  working  under  the 
same  conditions  as  before  the  strike,  as  no  concessions 
were  made. 

On  Oct.  12th,  the  representatives  of  the  C.  A.  I.  L.  and 
the  S.  C.  H.  C.  arrived  in  Greensburg,  the  county  seat, 
and  began  the  work  of  investigation.  Under  the  escort 
of  the  Rev.  D.  L  Schulz,  whose  friendship  was  invaluable, 
we  saw  much  that  might  have  escaped  us  with  a  less  ex¬ 
perienced  guide.  With  him  we  visited  a  number  of  mining 
towns,  and  found  great  difference  in  housing  conditions. 
Sometimes  miners  rent  or  own  their  own  houses.  Generally, 


8 


however,  they  are  obliged  to  live  in  company  houses,  of  a 
barren  and  dreary  appearance.  They  seemed  unnecessar¬ 
ily  close  together  when  one  saw  the  waste  of  hillside 
above  them.  Tn  some  of  these  towns  there  was  a  system 
of  drainage;  in  others  open  channels  leading  nowhere  in 
particular.  In  one  such  town  the  houses  were  built  on  a 
slope,  in  three  tiers,  one  below  another,  with  an  uneven 
road  between  them.  On  each  tier  were  pumps,  one  sup¬ 
plying  three  houses.  Seeing  how  the  drainage  from  the 
houses  on  the  tiers  above  them  must  contaminate  the 
water  on  the  lower  level,  we  did  not  wonder  at  the  epi¬ 
demics  of  typhoid  and  infantile  paralysis  of  which  we 
heard.  The  houses  were  of  different  sizes,  some  desig¬ 
nated  as  “shanties,”  well  deserving  the  name.  Others 
were  about  twenty-five  feet  wide,  by  thirty  feet  deep, 
divided  in  the  middle  by  a  thin  partition;  each  side  being 
rented  to  a  family  at  a  rent  of  about  seven  dollars  per 
month.  Three  or  four  rooms  are  the  average  allotment. 
Children  swarmed,  with  no  playground  but  the  dirty 
streets.  One  town  was  visited  on  a  day  when  the  mines 
were  shut  down  and  the  men  were  at  home.  There  seemed 
no  way  for  them  to  profitably  employ  their  enforced 
leisure.  It  seemed  a  pity  that  they  were  not  encouraged 
to  plant  gardens  in  the  waste  lands  about  them.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  report  of  the  United  States  Immigration  Com¬ 
mission  most  of  these  men  came  from  southeastern 
Europe  where  the  majority  were  farmers,  or  farmers’ 
helpers,  and  there  seems  great  economic  waste  in  their 
being  drafted  into  mining  districts,  instead  of  being  en¬ 
couraged  to  engage  in  agriculture. 

Visits  were  made  on  families  of  some  of  the  men  who 
since  the  strike  are  unable  to  obtain  employment  at  any 
of  the  mines  of  the  large  companies  of  Westmoreland  Co. 
Of  these  there  are  many  hundreds.  Such  visits  were  sad, 
even  one  to  the  bright  and  immaculate  home  of  the  Eng- 


9 


lish  miner  who  had  worked  many  years  in  that  vicinity. 
Before  the  influx  of  Slavs,  Polaks,  etc.,  had  reduced  wages, 
lie  had  saved  sufficient  to  build  a  pretty  house  in  a  neat 
garden  where  vegetables  thrive  and  flowers  are  blooming 
everywhere.  It  seems  hard  indeed  that  a  man  should  be 
an  exile  from  such  a  home,  but  he  can  get  no  work  nearer 
than  the  Pittsburg  field,  so  he  can  only  return  at  intervals. 
His  daughter  had  been  arrested  by  a  deputy  sheriff  dur¬ 
ing  the  strike  for  “trespass,”  she  having  inadvertently 
crossed  a  piece  of  company  land  on  the  common  path  on 
her  way  to  tlie  house  of  a  neighbor  who  had  just  died. 
When  she  was  brought  before  the  “Squire,”  or  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  he  pronounced  that  she  was  acquitted  but  moist 
pay  the  cost.  This  we  found  a  common  sentence  during  the 
strike.  In  the  case  of  those  unable  to  pay.  a  term  of  days 
in  jail  was  imposed  on  those  just  acquitted. 

Two  laws  of  the  state  were  prominently  brought  for¬ 
ward  at  this  time.  One  against  disorderly  conduct  pro¬ 
vides  a  penalty  for  making  a  loud,  boisterous,  or  unseemly 
noise  in  the  public  highway;  the  other,  a  trespass  law, 
provides  a  penalty  for  trespassing  on  posted  private  prop¬ 
erty.  In  respect  to  the  enforcement  of  these  laws  the 
Justices  of  the  Peace  are  given  absolute  jurisdiction  to 
settle  and  determine  these  cases,  and  the  only  way  they 
can  be  appealed  to  a  higher  court  is  by  special  allowance 
of  the  coufrt.  When  we  learned  that  two  of  these  Justices 
had  offices  on  company  property,  we  were  not  surprised 
at  the  decisions  rendered.  The  trespass  law  was  used  by 
deputy  sheriffs  to  prevent  men  from  getting  their  mail  at 
post  offices,  when  these  were  situated,  as  was  frequently 
the  case,  in  the  company  stores. 

In  one  household  visited,  the  mother  and  one  of  the 
daughters  were  arrested  ip  their  own  yard  by  a  deputy 
sheriff  during  a  parade  of  the  wives  and  daughters  of 


10 


strikers,  in  which  neither  was  taking  part.  With  nine 
other  girls  and  women  they  were  taken  before  a  squire, 
charged  with  disorderly  conduct,  and  were  not  permitted 
to  testify  in  their  own  behalf.  They  were  all  sentenced 
to  a  fine  of  ten  dollars  or  twenty  days  in  jail.  Not  being 
able  to  pay  they  went  to  jail. 

An  attorney  for  the  Union  appealed  to  the  court  and 
obtained  a  rehearing  of  the  case,  at  which  the  younger 
girls  were  declared  innocent,  but  were  sentenced  to  pay 
the  costs.  On  the  occasion  of  another  parade,  a  married 
daughter  in  the  same  family  was  arrested,  though  she  also 
was  not  in  the  parade.  She  was  fined  fifteen  dollars,  or 
thirty  days  in  jail,  to  which  she  was  taken,  and  where  her 
three  months  old  baby  was  brought  every  day.  The  bad 
air  and  the  confinement  made  her  ill,  and  after  fifteen 
days  the  Union  paid  the  fine  and  costs,  and  she  was  re¬ 
leased.  But  her  health  was  permanently  impaired,  and 
when  we  saw  her  she  was  in  bed  with  the  little  white¬ 
faced  baby,  both  victims  of  this  travesty  of  justice. 

When  we  asked  how  such  things  could  be  allowed,  the 
answer  was  a  shrug,  and  ‘'This  is  Westmoreland  County.” 

That  seemed  a  good  and  sufficient  answer  to  many  such 
questions.  The  s?ime  feeling  is  expressed  in  a  recent 
letter  from  the  mother  of  the  family  mentioned  above: 
“In  Westmoreland  County  there  is  no  law  for  the  poor 
.people;  we  will  have  to  wait.  1  often  think  it  will  be  a 
treat  to  get  up  before  a  just  •  God  that  will  give  us  jus¬ 
tice.” 

Many  tragic  cases  could  be  cited  of  miners  killed 
by  deputies  with  little  or  no  provocation,  and  injuries 
inflicted  on  both  men  and  women — some  under  circum¬ 
stances  of  peculiar  brutality.  All  serve  to  show  the  forces 
which  control  in  this  region.  This  collection  of  mining 
towns  seems  to  constitute  a  little  state  by  itself,  where 
law,  the  press,  railroads,  the  exercise  of  the  franchise, 
and  public  opinion,  are  all  dominated  by  those  in  control 


11 


of  the  chief  industry.  The  connection  of  the  railroads 
with  the  coal  companies  is  an  open  secret.  The  claim 
that,  men  are  forced  to  vote  before  being  naturalized  is 
made  too  often  to  be  disregarded.  It  is  said  that  only 
8,737  men  have  been  naturalized  in  the  last  110  years  in 
this  region  where  there  is  an  immense  foreign  vote.  These 
foreigners  are  recognized  as  constituting  a  grave  responsi¬ 
bility  by  those  who  have  studied  the  question  of  their  em¬ 
ployment. 

The  Bulletin  of  Labor  No.  90  states  that  for  the  ten 
years  from  1899  to  1908  inclusive,  the  number  of  fatal 
accidents  among  the  employees  in  the  bituminous  fields 
of  Pennsylvania  alone  was  4,552,  “to  say  nothing  of  the 
vast  amount  of  bodily  injury  through  accidents  not  imme¬ 
diately  fatal,”  and  again,  “compared  with  other  important 
coal  mining  countries  of  the  world,  the  fatality  rate  in 
North  America  is  decidedly  higher.” 

In  the  report  of  the  Immigration  Commission  we  read: 
“There  seems  a  direct  causal  effect  between  the  extensive 
employment  of  recent  immigrants  in  American  mines  and 
the  extraordinary  increase  within  recent  years  in  the 
number  of  mining  accidents.”  “Before  coming  to  the 
United  States  the  greater  proportion  were  engaged  in 
farming  or  unskilled  labor,  and  had  no  experience  in 
mining.  As  a  consequence  their  employment  in  the 
mines  has  been  made  possible  only  by  the  invention  of 
mechanical  devices ....  In  bituminous  coal  mining  the  pick 
or  the  hand  miner  was  formerly  an  employee  of  skill  and 
experience.  ...  By  the  invention  of  the  mining  machine 
his  work  has  been  reduced  to  unskilled  labor,  and  given  to 
recent  immigrants.”  We  were  told  by  one  of  the  men 
that  by  the  use  of  electric  cutting  machines  thei  cost  of 
mining  a  ton  of  coal  was  reduced  nearly  one-half.  But 
what  of  (he  cost  in  life  ?  What  of  the  ^conditions  under 
which  these  recent  immigrants  are  working  at  this  dan¬ 
gerous  occupation  which  their  presence  renders  more 


12 


dangerous?  Under  such  conditions  how  are  they  to 
'become  enlightened  American  citizens  and  kept  from 
being  a  menace  to  working  men  with  higher  ideals  ?  In 
this  connection  the  opposition  to  labor  organizations  is  to 
oe  much  regretted.  It  is  stated  in  tlie  “Report  on  Immi¬ 
grants  in  Manufacturing  and  Mining”  that  when  the  influx 
of  immigrants  became  greater  and  greater  in  the  bitumin¬ 
ous  mining  districts  labor  organizations  were  formed 
through  “the  realization  by  the  pioneer  mine  workers  that 
if  they  wished  to  perpetuate  the  existing  standards  of 
workmanship,  the  working  conditions  to  which  they  were 
accustomed,  and  if  they  were  to  hope  for  better  condi¬ 
tions  and  higher  wages  in  the  future,  they  must  control 
the  incoming  thousands  and  eduucate  them  as  to  what 
they  considered  proper  conditions  of  employment, 
standards  of  living,  and  rates  of  compensation.”  If  the 
employers  had  co-operated  with  this  effort  of  the  em¬ 
ployees  here,  as  in  some  other  fields,  what  a  different 
story  could  be  told  of  Westmoreland  County  !  As  it  ist 
the  natural  order  of  events  will  be  that  the  men  now  work¬ 
ing  will  in  their  turn  realize  the'  small  purchasing  power 
of  their  wages,  and  the  many  ways  in  which  these  are  re¬ 
duced,  and  other  accompanying  grievances,  and  will  strike 
as  did  those  whose  places  they  are  now  talking.  From 
representatives  of  different  classes  in  the  community  we 
heard  the  same  ominous  forecast  of  industrial  wrar, 
April,  1912,  when  the  new  contracts  are  made  in  the  or¬ 
ganized  held,  will  be  the  critical  time. 

The  influence  of  the  unorganized  held  upon  the  organ¬ 
ized  should  be  fully  realized.  The  lower  wages,  longer 
hours,  non-payment  for  “dead  work,”  etc.,  make  it  possi¬ 
ble  for  the  operators  in  Westmoreland  County  constantly 
to  underbid  those  in  the  Pittsburg  field. 

We  heard  of  one  of  these  latter  who  had  been  forced 
out  of  business,  and  there  is  ever  present  danger  that  this 
pressure  may  be  strong  enough  seriously  to  affect  the 
drawing  up  of  satisfactory  contracts  with  the  Union. 


13 


Surely  all  thoughtful  people  should  earnestly  consider 
this  complicated  situation  in  all  its  bearings,  and  pray  that 
grace  and  wisdom  may  he  given  to  ail  concerned. 

In  considering  what  immediate  steps  could  be  taken  to 
improve  conditions  in  this  region,  it  seemed  to  the 
C.  A.  I.  L.  investigators  that  a  great  opportunity  was  pre¬ 
sented  for  the  work  of  a  Social  Settlement  with  skilled 
workers  who  could  start  classes  among  men,  women,  and 
children  for  physical  and  moral  development,  and  give  in¬ 
struction  in  simple  sanitation  and  hygiene.  There  is  spe¬ 
cial  need  for  a  nurse  to  minister  to  the  sick,  and  as 
these  little  towns  are  within  a  short  distance  of  each  other 
and  connected  by  a  network  of  railroads  and  trolleys, 
such  a  nurse  could  easily  attend  cases  in  many  different 
towns.  We  strove  to  interest  representatives  of  social 
and  philanthropic  societies  in  the  condition  of  the  miners 
and  their  families,  and  in  the  idea  of  the  proposed  settle¬ 
ment.  Several  accepted  our  invitations  to  accompany  us 
on  our  tours  of  investigation,  among  them  Mr.  Alien  T. 
Burns,  Secretary  of  the  Pittsburg  Civic  Commission,  who 
was  most  interested  in  our  work  and  plans.  To  him  we 
were  greatly  indebted  both  for  valuable  counsel  and  prac¬ 
tical  aid,  and  when  we  left  Pittsburg  he  consented  to  act 
as  the  representative  of  the  group  of  people  in  that  city 
who  were  most  interested  in  the  settlement  plan. 

We  were  invited  to  speak  at  several  meetings  of  socie¬ 
ties  and  organizations,  giving  an  account  of  our  investiga¬ 
tions  and  plans. 

We  also  arranged  for  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins,  President 
of  the  Woman’s  Trade  Union  League,  to  come  on  from 
Chicago  and  go  with  us  on  one  of  our  trips,  and  to  give 
an  address  on  “Present  Conditions  in  Westmoreland 
County/’  to  which  the  general  public  was  invited.  At  this 
meeting  a  sympathetic  letter  from  the  Rt.  Rev.  Courtlandt 
Whitehead,  who  was  out  of  town,  was  read  by  Rev.  E.  H. 


14 


Ward,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Social  Service  Committee 
of  the  Diocese,  who  himself  made  a  strong  speech  in  favor 
of  Social  Service  on  the  part  of  the  Church, 

A  conference  with  representatives  of  the  different  social 
agencies  of  the  city  was  also  held  in  which  plans  were  dis¬ 
cussed.  It  was  there  reported  that  in  the  town  which 
seemed  to  us  the  best  location  for  thei  settlement,  a  com¬ 
mittee  of  representative  citizens,  chosen  by  a  federation 
of  all  churches,  had  been  formed  which  would  gladly  co¬ 
operate  with  any  movement  such  as  has  here  been  out¬ 
lined. 

Since  leaving  Pittsburg,  many  efforts  have  been  made 
to  awaken  interest  in  influential  quarters,  and  it  is  hoped 
some  of  these  may  bear  fruit.  Such  a  rural  settlement 
whose  influence  would  extend  throughout  so  large  a  sec¬ 
tion  would  be  a  new  and  most  important  departure  in 
Social  Welfare  work.  WThile  the  solving  of  the  great 
problem  .of  establishing  Capital  and  Labor  upon  a  basis 
of  mutual  respect  and  helpfulness  is  the  urgent  need  of 
the  hour,  and  one  in  which  the  Church  should  take  an  im¬ 
portant  part,  this  concrete  effort  to  ameliorate  present 
conditions  may  draw  attention  to  the  more  important 
issue,  and  also  act  as  a  solvent  of  some  of  the  existing 
sources  of  friction. 

It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  many  who  are  considering 
“social  questions  of  the  day  in  the  light  of  the  Incarna¬ 
tion/’  will  wish  not  only  to  work  towards  the  ultimate 
setting  up  of  Christ’s  Kingdom  of  Justice  on  earth,  but 
to  win  the  blessing — “Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  My  brethren,  ve  have  done  it 
unto  Me.” 

MARGARET  SCHUYLER  LAWRANCE. 

LUCY  CARLILE  WATSON. 

MARGARET  HILLIS  SHEARMAN. 


15 


O  God,  at  Whose  word  man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work 
and  to  his  labor  until  the  evening,  be  merciful  to  all  those 
whose  duties  are  difficult  or  burdensome,  and  comfort 
them  concerning  their  toil.  Shield  from  bodily  accident 
and  harm  the  workmen  at  their  work.  Protect  the  efforts 
of  sober  and  honest  industry,  and  suffer  not  the  hire  of 
the  laborers  to  be  kept  back  by  fraud. 

Enlighten  all  employers  of  labor  with  the  gift  of  thp 
Holy  Spirit,  that  they  may  consider,  not  what  the  world 
would  sanction,  but  what  Thy  law  demands.  Incline  their 
hearts,  and  the  hearts  of  those  whom  they  employ,  to 
mutual  forbearance,  fairness,  and  good  will. 

All  which  we  ask  through  the  name  of  Him  Who  glori¬ 
fied  all  labor  by  His  life  of  toil,  Thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Lord.  Amen. 


16 


